


With Words We Build and Words We Break

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: Thicker than Water [59]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drama, F/M, Family, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-05
Updated: 2011-11-05
Packaged: 2017-10-25 17:24:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/272864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I went to your room to jump all over you but you weren't there.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	With Words We Build and Words We Break

**Author's Note:**

> This story is written in the Thicker than Water universe, where the BAU are kids and teens. The title comes from the Gin Blossoms song, Lost Horizons.

Emily sat on her bed painting her toenails and listening to Patti Scialfa’s _Rumble Doll_. She was usually indifferent to things like nail polish but Jason really seemed to love it. She wasn’t going to be one of those girlfriends who only did something because her man liked it. But there was something about Jason’s happy face that captivated her. So Emily now had six bottles of nail polish.

Four were Manic Panic colors, one was a cotton candy pink, and the last was a summer coral. That’s what she was putting on her toes. It was a hot evening; July was past the halfway mark. That meant the humidity was in DC to stay until late September. The weather would alternate between stormy and sweltering. It was her third summer here but Emily still found herself getting used to the seasonal extremes.

“Prentiss?” Morgan knocked and poked his head into the room. “Can I come in?”

“You're already a quarter of the way there.” she replied smiling. “C'mon.”

Morgan didn’t spend a lot of time in his siblings’ rooms. He was so damn happy to have his own that it really became his sanctuary. He could tell Emily felt the same way about hers. The walls were painted maroon and her furniture was black wood. She had a desk, chest of drawers, bookcases, and nightstands.

Emily had a billion books, magazines, tapes, and CDs lying around. She had little statuettes and knick-knacks too…Morgan bought her the ballerina music box last Christmas. She told him that it reminded her of one she had as a little girl. There was a framed poster of Woody Allen’s _Manhattan_ over her bed. There was also a Morrissey poster, _The Thin Man_ , and _Rebecca_.

Smaller posters of Crowded House, Depeche Mode, and other bands Morgan never heard of took up wall space. Emily’s room was just so Emily…a little darkness and a little light. He wondered what his room said about him. Morgan hoped it was more than he liked football, girls, and _Star Wars_.

“First, I need to as a very important question.” He said.

“Shoot.”

“Who's your favorite little brother?”

“That’s not fair; I have three.”

“OK, I’ll rephrase. Who's your coolest little brother?”

“That would be you.” Emily pointed at Derek. She wiggled her toes in an attempt to dry them quicker. Maybe she’d do another coat just to be sure.

“That’s right.” Morgan nodded. “And the reason for that, amongst other things, is that I always got your back. Whenever you want or need something I'm gonna do anything I can for you. So…Shabam!”

Derek held out the two tickets and Emily just looked at him. He wore a smug look of self-satisfaction but also one of pride and happiness. She just raised an eyebrow.

“What are you up to, Derek?” she asked. “What are those?”

“Do you remember how upset you were cuz the Gin Blossoms concert was sold out?” he asked.

“That’s kinda hard to forget.”

“Well turn that frown upside down, baby, I got your tickets right here.” He grinned.

“What? You…what?”

“Ta-da!!” he wiggled the tickets in his fingers.

“Oh my God! Oh my God, Derek! Oh my God!”

Not giving a damn about decorum, or her slightly wet toenails, Emily jumped off her bed. She screamed and jumped into Derek’s arms. They were jumping up and down hugging when Jason and JJ rushed into the room. They both heard her scream, JJ from her bedroom and Jason as he was walking up the stairs.

“What's going on?” JJ asked.

“Jason, we’re going to the concert!” Emily exclaimed, launching herself into the arms of the boy she loved.

“What concert?” JJ asked.

“The Gin Blossoms!” Emily was still shouting and dancing.

“Well OK.” The blonde gave them the OK sign, rolled her eyes, and went back to her room.

“What are you talking about?” Jason asked. “That concert has been sold out for weeks. I did all I could but had no luck.

“Well I made a few phone calls to a few acquaintances.” Morgan replied. “There's no such thing as truly sold out.”

“Who did you call, Derek?” Jason asked. “Are these tickets scalped?”

“I should feel some type of way that every time I do something your first assumption is that it’s something nefarious.”

“I didn’t mean…” Jason stopped when Derek held up his hand.

“You can think whatever you want, Jason. I didn’t do anything illegal and I did this for Emily.”

“Thank you so much.” she was squeezing him again. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”

“I love you right back.” He kissed her cheek. “Enjoy them.”

He left the room. Jason looked after him as Emily flounced around. She jumped on the chance to get tickets to the show at the Palace Theater as soon as she found out they were on sale. It was a small theater though, maybe sat 1500, and Emily didn’t find out about the show until ten days after the fact. She and Zoë rushed to the box office after school.

They told her the show was already sold out. When she talked about it later that night with Morgan, Emily actually cried a little. She loved the band but wasn’t going to be able to see them. Two years since their last album, six years after their multi-platinum debut, Emily never thought it would sell out so fast. She had no idea what he did to get the tickets. As long as he didn’t sell his body or his soul, she wouldn’t ask too many questions.

“Oh my God,” she said rushing over to her phone. “Zoë is going to flip shit when she hears this.”

“I’ll be right back.” Jason said, not even sure Emily heard him over the sound of her own squee.

He walked to the attic steps and then up. Derek’s lamp was on, his door was ajar, but he wasn’t in there. Back down on the second floor Jason saw both the bathroom doors open so he couldn’t be in there. A few minutes later he found him down in the kitchen. Derek was making a snack while Tom Petty played on the radio.

“Derek?”

“Huh?” he looked up from the freezer. His face changed when he saw it was Jason. “What's up?”

“Do I always do that?” he asked, walking further into the room. “Do I always assume its something nefarious with you?”

“Yeah. If Hotch had given Emily the tickets you wouldn’t have asked a single question, sold out or not. That hurts.”

“I'm so sorry.”

“Sorry’s not good enough.” He went to the counter with golden vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, marshmallow fluff, and whipped cream. “I wasn’t just saying it hurt for sympathy. We’re brothers, Jason. I love you and I trust you. You of all people have to know how hard that is for me. To know you don’t trust me…”

“That is not true.” Jason said firmly as he shook his head. “I trust you, Derek.”

“Then what is it?”

“I just worry.”

“About what?” Derek asked.

“I worry about everything. You're a black teenager living in a city. I worry about mistaken identity. I worry about cops like Gordinski pinning something on you cuz they can. I worry about one teenage mistake ruining the rest of your life.

“The world won't give you a second chance and as I much as I hate that it also scares me to death. I know you know some colorful characters, as many as you do regular kids. I know it’s important for you to never forget where you came from. I just worry, Derek. I guess I need to make a conscious effort to distinguish my worrying from thinking about you the same things people I worry about do.”

“So this is a black thing?”

“No, it’s not a black thing for me. It never, ever will be. Sometimes it’s just a black thing for everyone else. I wish that weren't true but it is. I don’t have to have the same worries for Hotch, or even Spencer, that I do for you. But I never intended to treat you any different because of that and I truly apologize.”

“Anderson hooked me up with the tickets.” Derek replied. “He knows one of the dudes who work lights and stuff at The Palace and they get comp tickets to events. They’re not scalped but surely I was overcharged for them. Its all good…it was for Emily.”

“How much did you pay for them?” Jason asked.

“Why do you always ask questions like that?” Derek countered.

“I'm the big brother; I'm allowed.”

“They were $70.”

Derek finished making his sundae so he sat down at the counter to eat it. He also said a secret prayer Ashley didn’t come wandering in. She always seemed to sense other people’s snacks and he couldn’t help but share with the munchkin. She had one of those faces; it got him every time.

“Where did you get that kind of money?” Jason was mortified.

“Oh my God, you don’t stop do you?”

“C'mon Morgan, that’s a lot of money for a 15 year old.”

“Oh please, tell that to those trust fund babies we go to school with. I used $40 of my own, saved up from allowance, mowing lawns, and stuff. Then I borrowed the rest from Uncle Dave with the promise that he’d have it back in sixty days. I still have at least two months of mowing lawns and a monopoly in this area. So I’ll definitely be able to make it work.”

“OK.”

“OK what?”

“OK, OK. I trust you Morgan, and it means a lot to me that you trust me as well. If you ever feel like I'm not giving you a fair shake for whatever reason, please call me on it. I mean that.”

“You bet I will.” He nodded.

“Gimme your hand on it.”

Jason held out his fist and Derek smacked his on it.

“We’re not gonna hug.” He said.

Jason smirked, turning to leave the kitchen. Morgan was digging into his ice cream when Ashley walked in.

“Hey Derek, whatcha eating?”

“A sundae.” He replied.

“Wow, it looks yummy.”

“Get a spoon, munchkin. A little spoon!”

She grinned, running over to the drawer where they kept the utensils.

***

“Hey, where did you go?” Emily smiled when he came back into her room. “I went to your room to jump all over you but you weren't there.”

“I'm definitely sorry that I missed that.” He smiled, putting his hands in his pockets. “It’s almost nine o’clock so if you wait a couple of hours, we can pick up where we left off.”

“That sounds good to me. But where did you go?”

“I wanted to talk to Morgan.” He replied.

“Is everything alright?”

“Do you think I'm too hard on him?” Jason asked, sitting on her bed. “Do you think I'm harder on him than Hotch because he's black?”

“What are you asking me, Jason?”

“Well he said that was something that concerned him. Now I'm concerned.”

“I do know how much you worry about him. I know you think the cops, especially that fat bastard Gordinski, just look at him and see some thug. I know you worry about all the girls at school just seeing a baller or a player. One false accusation or lie could destroy his whole life. Morgan has big plans for himself and you don’t want anything to get in his way.

“As much as you don’t want him to be different from Aaron or Spencer, he is. So sometimes you have to hold on a little tighter or ask some extra questions. It might cause tension but I'm glad Derek feels like he can call you on things and tell you how he feels. Don’t let worrying about other’s perceptions turn you into them.”

“I would never do that.” Jason shook his head. “I pray I never do that.”

“Just make sure that he always knows you love him and have his back.” Emily took his hand. “Everything is going to be fine. And we need to be celebrating.”

“Why?”

“Why? Cuz we’re going to the Gin Blossoms show!”

She threw herself on him, covering Jason in kisses. He fought her off while doing nothing of the sort. Then he just surrendered to her. Jason didn’t think there was anything in the world better than surrender.

“Oh my God, I'm so sorry.” Spencer gasped and covered his eyes. “I didn’t see anything.”

“How do you know there's anything to see?” Emily asked. “Your eyes are covered.”

“Well…” he uncovered his eyes. Now Emily was standing and Jason sat on the bed. “Oh.”

“What's up?” Jason asked.

“Well, I'm in my pajamas now.” Spencer said. “I just wanted to know if you're gonna read to us tonight. We wanted to start Harry Potter.”

“Of course I am.” Emily replied. “I'm pretty excited about the book too. It’ll be the first adventure we all go on together.”

“OK.” Spencer smiled.

“I’ll be there in about 20 minutes. Surely I’ll have to wrangle Ashley and get her pajamas on.”

“OK.” He said again, turning to walk down the hall.

“I'm sorry.” Emily said in her best innocent tone.

“For what?” Jason reached for her hand and pulled her closer.

“I know we’re supposed to be chaste when the house is wide awake. I was just so excited.”

“Kissing is OK.”

To prove his point, Jason drew her face close. He stroked her face and kissed her lips. Emily hummed, loving the feelings in her belly.

“I need you to get out of my bedroom, Jason Gideon. If you don’t, Harry Potter will surely be the last thing on my mind.”

“I’ll see you later.” Jason got up from the bed.

“You most certainly will.”

“By the way, I love the polish.” He grinned.

Emily smiled as he walked out. Then she grabbed her concert tickets, dancing around the room in glee. She was going to see the Gin Blossoms. She and Jason were going to see them together. It was going to be awesome. She really needed to squeeze Derek a few more times before settling in with Spencer, Ashley, and Harry Potter.

***


End file.
